


The Mist Watch Weekly

by Rigil_Kentauris



Category: Flight Rising
Genre: It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Newsletter, Propaganda, coatl dragons - Freeform, god-tier formatting, mistwatch shellions are evil, the mire (flight rising)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-10
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 06:11:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8001451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rigil_Kentauris/pseuds/Rigil_Kentauris
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Mercy. I am the editor in chief of this little newsletter, and I can assure you: this is no propaganda campaign. Nor is it nonsense. This is a LAST, DESPERATE attempt to help the dragons of Sorneith see the dangers posed by the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS before it is too late!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Issue One: Early February

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> imported from the Flightrising forums

  **~The Mist Watch Weekly~**

  
Dragons across Sornieth: there is a danger facing Sorneith, far greater than any danger ever faced by dragonkind before. More menacing than the Shade, more deadly than the Plaguebringer. For too long we have remained silent on the issue, fearing for our lair and for our clanmates, but as the dragonkind population grows bigger, we have had to make a choice between our personal safety, and our duty to the rest of dragonkind. We have chosen you. To what end, we do not know.

* * *

_The Enemy_

|    
  
You might not already know what this threat is. If this is the case, we envy your bliss. But it will not save you. It will not save you from the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS.  
  
That’s right. The MISTWATCH SHELLIONS. You’ve seen them, peeking out at you. Their smirk, self-fulfilled and yet somehow still empty. The eyes that stare past you, eyes that never meet you, eyes that look out as if they are, in fact, looking at someone far beyond you…doubtlessly, you’ve killed them as you made your way across the horrible, darkened passages of the Mire. But have you ever stopped to wonder what they are planning for you, in return?  
---|---  
  
We have. We have, and we have suffered at the hands of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS, and we must now reach out to the rest of Sornieth, so that none may suffer the EVILS of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS. And so we have created The Mist Watch. It is a weekly report, about the comings and goings of the Enemy. We will give you a weekly Threat Assessment. We will bring you interviews from those who have been touched by the malice of the Enemy. We will spread the word of the MALEVOLENCE of the Enemy! And we will hope, as always, that we make it another day in this cruel, Mistwatch world. Heed our warnings! Protect yourself! Before it is too late…

* * *

**THREAT INDEX (1-5)**  
  
  


  
_Did they find out what we were planning? Our Coliseum team was followed home by three of them. That evening, we found a crate, containing coins and SKIN. The hide of a MISTWATCH SHELLION, still damp with greenish ooze, ragged in places. Could it have been a…a…a real MISTWATCH SHELLION skin? But why? The hatchlings saw it before we could remove it. Be careful. The Enemy is angry._  
  


* * *

|          |    
**MISTWATCH SHELLIONS: LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE SIGNS**  
  
The Mire is already a treacherous place. Low visibility, deep bogs, and thick fog plague the place. You may think you are already prepared to handle the inherent dangers. But beware! The MISTWATCH SHELLION knows the terrain infinitely better than you do. It is their HOME. If you feel like you are being followed, if you see out of the corner of your eye a flash of lavender, if you feel a creeping sensation deep within you, an sense of dread, a sense that you just might not make it home tonight, USE CAUTION! A MISTWATCH SHELLION may be following you. Here are some steps you can use to protect yourself, if you suspect the worse.  
---|---|---  
  
  * Use fire! The Enemy is aligned with Ice. The instinctively fear the FLAME of GOODNESS and RIGHT. The flame will also help you see, and will help burn through the ever-present fog. If you made the mistake of traveling without a Fire dragon, or worse, without fire making tools, then make light however you can. The MISTWATCH SHELLION will not be fooled, but it will help you see. Don’t make it easy for them!
  * Bring a mirror! The Enemy is known for staring at the Mists. No one knows why they do this, or if it is in fact for some deeper, more sinister purpose. Yet the fact remains. The Enemy can, on occasion, be distracted by the reflection of mist in a mirror.
  * NEVER TRAVEL ALONE! You have heard the rumors of dragons who entered the Mire alone, and never returned. Did they fall in a bog, wings trapped, unable to swim? Did they encounter a Wartoad, swallowed in one gulp or smashed under its flippers? Or were they stalked by the Enemy, cornered and backed against a twisted log, flailing in the dark against a mob of identical MISTWATCH SHELLIONS, captured and forced to wear the skin of a recently deceased member? Were they brainwashed into joined the Shellion way of life? Or did they go insane, doomed to amble in the deepest, most lonely parts of the Mire? We don’t know. Do you want to find out? No? Then DON’T TRAVEL ALONE!



* * *

**Next Week:**  
The Differences Between average Shellions and MISTWATCH SHELLIONS.  
MISTWATCH SHELLION language: Interview with a Mire Survivor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow look at that formatting so nice


	2. Issue 2: Late Feburary

**~The Mist Watch Weekly~**

[](http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/adopt/1471920)

_The Unceasing Fog_

|    | 

We have successfully created two - TWO - Mistwatch Weeklies to date. Our team - our editors, the agents who track the movements of the Enemy, the dragons in the clan where I live - trembles at night. We can only wait for the RETRIBUTION of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS. Read our words. Take notice! The more you know about the Enemy, the better prepared you will be when they eventually STRIKE! Who knows how many of them there are, submerged in the muck, hiding, shifting from ONE SHADOW to ANOTHER...

  
**MISTWATCH SHELLION LANGUAGE**  
-By Mercy  
  
Yes! You heard right! The MISTWATCH SHELLIONS have a language! They are capable of communication. How else do you think they plan their strikes, co-ordinating in the silent, still forests? Of course, it is clear that MISTWATCH SHELLIONS can, with a single piercing stare form their large green eye, let their fellows know what they are doing. A normal dragon has NO CHANCE against the MISTWATCH SHELLION, if that dragon does not endeavor to understand how the Enemy talks!  
For many years, I was lost in the Mire, confounded at every angle my the deceptions of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS. I owe my survival, among many things, to my ability to pick up on their language.  
  
---|---|---  
  
Growing up Coatl in a non-Coatl lair is difficult. You have to work very hard if you want to succeed at understanding you lairmates. It was no different for me, although I took to understanding languages far faster than the other hatchlings. I have, I put forth humbly, a gift for understanding how languages work, how they are put together, how to listen and speak them. SO when I was lost in the Mire as a young dragon, I recognized something important. The haunting echoes I heard were part of a language. The distant snap of a branch, too clear and too sharp to be accidental – language. The sound of wind dragging itself through the tangle of dead brush – not the wind. Someone – or something – was speaking.  
I won’t frighten readers with a description of how I connected the sounds to the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS. That story is far too long and too harrowing to recount today. But I will leave you with a useful tool – some of the more common MISTWATCH SHELLION phrases:

  * Two broken twigs sounds, one breath apart: “I am following a creature”. This means, of course, that the Enemy is following YOU! Stay calm. Prepare yourself. Can you get to a fire quickly?
  * Haunting echoes while the wind is blowing: “It is time to go/It is time”. This literally means, ‘it is time’. For what? For some grand MEETING of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS? I don’t know. It does mean, however, that the Enemy will vacate the area.
  * The sound of ROCKS falling behind you: Run. This is the noise a MISTWATCH SHELLION makes when it clacks its pointed beak. There is one reason the Enemy would open its mud crusted beak. To CONSUME the FLESH of DRAGONKIND!



I’ve been told, on many occasions, that I must have imagining things. I was not. Is it so odd to think that creatures like the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS would create a language as DECEPTIVE and TERRIFYING as themselves? Is it odd to think that in a land where Coatls communicate as we do, a creature used to hiding in the forests would create such a language? No. Learn how they speak. And use it against them.

* * *

**THREAT INDEX (1-5)**

  
_The Trickmurk Circus is coming up. Be careful of any dragon dressed up as The Enemy. The might, in fact, be an actual MISTWATCH SHELLION, traveling among us to DIVINE our SECRETS, to SECRET AWAY our HATCHLINGS! Think: what kind of dragon would dress up as a Shellion, for fun? The Enemy is deceptive. And this is a holiday about deception. Be careful..._  
  


* * *

|       | 

**SHELLIONS AND MISTWATCH SHELLIONS**  
-By Eissu  
  
Average Shellions, as we all know, are adorable, harmless, and, if you are into puns, quite funny. Several of their kind have mastered the intricacies of certain dragon tongues, and as far as beastclans go, Shellions are tolerably decent.  
The most obvious difference between a Shellion and a Mistwatch Shellion is appearance. Average Shellions come in a wide variety of browns, and natural, earthy colors. They have a thick and oily mane, and spend much of their time submerged in the various swamps and mires of, well, the Mire.  
  
---|---|---  
  
In contrast, Mistwatch Shellions are a pale, unhealthy purple color. If you are unfortunate enough to be close to one, you will notice their tail is bright blue. This coloring allows them to blend in to the mists, allows them to lurk just outside their vision, allows them to stalk you, to watch you through the deep mists. We have unconfirmed reports that some of them cover themselves in rotting, decaying plant material, so they can blend in to the putrid background even more effectively. Regular Shellions have only one spot of purple: their eyes. Mistwatch Shellions, for some reason, have bright green eyes. They will never let you see more than one eye at a time, though. It’s possible that each one has only a single, glowing eye.

  
If the most obvious difference is appearance, then the most important difference is behavior. In short, average Shellions are average. They have well-understood community patterns, and a solid morality. Mistwatch Shellions, however, are evil. They are enigmatic, cunning, and most certainly planning something. Thankfully, their saner brethren do not share the Mistwatch Shellion’s homicidal tendencies.

* * *

  
**Next Week:**  
Lost in the Mire: A Survivor’s Response  
A Strategist’s Viewpoint on the Enemy’s Movements

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gosh that formatting again wow who's doing that???


	3. Chapter 3

**~The Mist Watch Weekly~**

  


_Do not mistake the light in these ruins for a good sign._

_Where can this forlorn path_  
_possibly lead?_

|      | 

 Instead of a BOLD declaration, I must instead open this issue of the Mistwatch Weekly with a sincere apology to those of you inclined to read our little newsletter. While there can be no EXCUSE for this unfortunate LAPSE in our vigil, I still offer forth my most humble regrets along with a reason for my absence. I was INJURED by the ENEMY whilst in pursuit of the TRUTH during an expedition to a new and odd place. As many of Sorneith’s dragons have noticed, last month an endless miasmatic fog dissipated from what dragons have taken to calling the Ghostlight Ruins, though, what LIGHT has to do with those dark grounds, I still don’t quite understand…

  
**Ghostlight Ruins: What It Means For You**  
-By Mercy

  
 The twisted beings -if they can in fact be called such- that dwell in the Ghostlight Ruins have no match among dragons in their capacity for enmity. One could likely spend a hundred lifetimes documenting the horrors Ghostlighters are going to inflict on dragonkind. But my area of expertise, despite a brief foray into the Ruins, lies not with the denizens of those spectral places. It lies with the ENEMY! It lies with what might be the single greatest threat since the emergence of the MISTWATCH SHELLIONS, or else with the single greatest HOPE for dragonkind since the same. I should explain.  
  
---|---|---  
  
  
 I spent weeks cowering in the shadows of the silent ruins. My dark coloring, usually a CURSE for a Coatl, saved my life more than once in that place, the place where the daylight is suffocatingly heavy and the nights darker than the bottom of the Sea. WHY, you ask? Because I had a TERRIBLE suspicion, a suspicion for whose negation I would have gladly died. The ENEMY! Ever-present and cunning beyond our reason, is it such a stretch to conclude that the creation of our little newsletter and the unveiling of the RUINS were related? Is it a coincidence that these RUINS were discovered only days before the TRICKMURK CIRCUS, the time when the Enemy would be at their strongest in months? No. I suspected the MISTWACTH SHELLIONS were involved, and though I have no proof after weeks of searching, I still suspect it. But I will pursue the TRUTH, no matter the CONSEQUENCES!  
  
  If I am correct, and I hope that I am not, the unveiling of the Ghostlight Ruins signifies far more danger for you than anyone could have assumed at first. Please, those of you who are inclined to train and fight in Sorneith’s Coliseum, stay out of the Ruins! And if possible, the Mire. While I have not had a chance to personally confirm the rumors, we are hearing that creatures in the Mire are getting tougher, gaining strength, almost as if lead, or inspired even, by some greater violent power…

* * *

**THREAT INDEX (1-5)**

  


  
Do not be deceived by a lowered threat index. I believe Sornieth to be safe only from physical attacks by the Enemy. They seem to be biding their time, withdrawn and waiting. I hesitate to speculate what role our newsletter, and even myself, has had in provoking the creation of the Ghostlight Ruins…  
  
  


* * *

|       |    
**Guest Piece: A Strategist’s Viewpoint on the Enemy’s Movements**  
-By [Ledyan](http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&id=171292&tab=dragon&did=21089467)  
  
 Hello. A moment of introduction. I won’t claim the valor of having fought in the dominance battles. Stolen honor is no honor at all. But I have had the opportunity to defend my clan, and the clans of others, and countless teams of Coliseum trainees. And I have studied extensively the art of strategy, and tactics. That I know enough to distinguish the two will, I hope, tell you a little about me. I also was responsible for the Auction House Raider Defense for one year, ending only three months ago, when I met Mercy and came to understand the threat posed by the _Avernaghk Takkirschk_ , the Mistwatch Shellions. I will certainly be happy to provide you with more credentials, if necessary.  
---|---|---  
  
  
 While strategy is far too complex an art to be boiled down so compactly, I would like to do my best to sketch out what I see as a probable plan for the _A. Takkirschk_. I find no shame in admitting I could not see the revelation of the Ruins ahead of time, but I tailored my points afterwards.  
I cannot be sure of the _A. Takkirschk’s_ end goal. Based on what evidence we do have, hostile actions seem probable. However, the _A. Takkirschk_ has several notable deficiencies and strengths when pitted against dragonkind.  
  
Main Weaknesses:

  * _A. Takkirschk_ is physically weaker in a one on one contest than most, if not all dragons with proper training.
  * _A. Takkirschk's_ bright and distinctive coloring makes it very noticeable outside of its home territory in the Mire, and more recently, the Ghostlight Ruins.
  * _A. Takkirschk_ inability to fly and lack of technological innovations (such as Wind’s famous balloons) to counter this fact means they face a significant disadvantage in air-to-ground combat.



  
Main Strengths:

  * Ignorance. The awareness dragonkind has of _A. Takkirschk_ , the more efficient they can become.
  * Natural Strength. While a lone _A. Takkirschk_ stands no chance against a team of effectively trained dragons, an _A. Takkirschk_ against a single trained dragon is a different story. Their hard shell/rocklike body composition aids them greatly here.
  * Intelligence. It is yet to be determined whether _A. Takkirschk_ is naturally more intelligent than a dragon; nonetheless, it is evident that _A. Takkirschk_ possess higher intelligence and an astonishing capability to execute elaborate and clever plans.



  
 Given the following, and the steps the _A. Takkirschks_ have already taken, I find it likely they will try to compensate, interestingly, for the lack of the home territory they do so well in. In the Mire, their coloring is no longer a problem. Further, the trees and foliage negates many of the benefits of flying. The same holds true of the Ghostlight Ruins. _A. Takkirschk_ mostly would blend well there, and the half standing arches and columns not only restrict flying, but give cover and make even low flight dangerous.  
  
 As far augmenting their existing strengths, I can see no signs of action. However, if they were to try, I would think they would work on developing or stealing technology in order to bolster their natural strength. I don’t know what kind of numbers _A. Takkirschk_ has, but given the size of their territories, I would assume dragonkind enjoys a numerical superiority. Were it to come to flat out war, and I think _A. Takkirschk_ is more intelligent than that, they would probably want to ensure that their members survive combat for longer. As such, I would recommend for dragonkind that we first keep a firm claw on our technology, and second, that we work hard on containing or even demolishing the Ghostlight Ruins. At the very least, I would disagree with Mercy and suggest the Ruins be explored thoroughly, so that if it comes to a fight, we are prepared.  


* * *

  
**Next Week:**  
Lost in the Mire: A Survivor’s Response


End file.
